Enterprise innovation and strategy teams, venture studios, corporate venture groups, and founders. You have a promising idea, or you know a new one is needed, and you want evidence before you commit.
I work in both directions: taking an existing idea to market, or running discovery to define a new one and position it.
Research with the people who will use it, then test whether the market wants it before you invest. I narrow many options down to the one worth building.
For example: discovery strategy for a hospital system, and assessing research IP for licensing.
Take a concept from strategy to launch with a staged venture build process: define the MVP, go to market, set up operations, then scale.
For example: a joint venture studio build now in progress, and go-to-market strategy for exoskeleton robotics.
A four-layer model of governance, methods, strategy, and operations that helps a company keep inventing, not just run one project.
For example: the innovation department at ServiceChannel, and a problem-solving framework Dufresne Group still uses.
Explore plausible futures, set a North Star, and work back to the first moves a team can make now. This is backcasting, shown below.
For example: moonshot workshops for Caterpillar, venture strategy with JB Hunt, and a 2050 futures sprint.
Most planning starts from today and asks what is possible. Backcasting starts from the future a team wants, then maps the bets that get them there and the first move to make now.
A clear, shared picture of success, anchored in measures the business already tracks.
Alignment on the few bets that matter, sequenced from proof to pilot to scale.
A short list of first moves and validation steps the team can start right away.
Most often run as a full-day workshop with leadership teams, in two rounds. Used with Caterpillar to turn a North Star into a five-year roadmap. Read the case →
Clients and partners include BCG Digital Ventures, Fortive, Caterpillar, JB Hunt, Wabash, Dufresne Group, SeAH Steel, and the University of Washington. Several have brought me back for repeat engagements.
With a conversation about what you're working toward. Then a short scoping step, because a well-framed question saves time and money later.
A workshop is usually one day. Discovery and validation work typically runs several weeks. Venture builds run for months.
Both. I work with enterprise teams, venture studios, and corporate venture groups, and I also advise founders.
Yes, and I prefer it for workshops and research. I'm based in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and I travel for client work. Remote work is fine too.
A sponsor who owns the outcome, access to the people closest to the problem, and time for a few working sessions.
Tell me what you're working toward. We'll figure out where to start.